Refrigerator cabinets as heretofore produced normally comprise over twenty separate parts which are assembled by welding and with a variety of mechanical fasteners. Despite the use of automation and the refinement of assembly techniques, the manufacture and assembly of these many parts require a substantial number of manual operations and the cost of manufacturing refrigerator cabinets has remained relatively high.
The design, manufacture, production scheduling and inventory control of the many components of prior refrigerator cabinets has also contributed significantly to the overall cost of the finished product.
Further, the employment of welding in the manufacture of refrigerator cabinets has inhibited the use of cost-saving prefinished materials, and, when such materials have been used, time-consuming and costly hand finishing operations have been required to avoid an unacceptable rate of scrap production.